Baseball Eliminated from MASCAC Tournament with Losses to Salem and Worcester

Buzzards Bay, Mass. – The fourth seeded Framingham State University baseball team was eliminated from the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Championship Tournament with losses to second seeded Salem State University and third seeded Worcester State University this afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.

The Rams (26-18) struggled offensively on the day as they were defeated 7-0 by Salem State in their first game of the day, before falling 4-0 to Worcester State in an elimination game.  Salem and Worcester will meet on Sunday for the tournament title and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Salem State (24-12) received three RBI from freshman Jose Cedano (Lawrence, Mass.) in their victory over the Rams.

Salem State got all of the runs it would need by tallying four times in their opening at-bat, as RBI singles off the bats of senior Ryan Beliveau (Lynn, Mass.) and freshman Dan Connors (Danvers, Mass.) sandwiched a two-run error. Cedano added a run-scoring single in the third and plated the final two Viking runs in the seventh on a double to close out the scoring, and junior Sean Buckland (Lynn, Mass.) took care of the rest on the mound, as he scattered five hits and struck out nine in going the distance to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Sophomore Andrew Deloury (Andover, Mass.) rapped out three of Salem State's 11 hits in the triumph, while Cedano and sophomore Teghan Malionek (Salem, Mass.) each added a pair of hits for the Vikings.  Five different players collected singles in the middle game setback for Framingham State (26-18), as junior Dillon Corliss (Winterport, Maine) allowed just five earned runs and fanned three over 7 1/3 innings of work to fall to 4-5 on the season.

Worcester State, who eliminated tournament top seed Massachusetts Maritime in the day's opening game, received a combined two-hit shutout from senior Joe Perlak (Chicopee, Mass.) and sophomore Tyler Barrie (Oxford, Mass.) in a 4-0 win over Framingham State in the last contest of the semifinal round.

Run-scoring singles by senior Zach George (Attleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Jake Ryan (Whitinsville, Mass.) in the bottom of the third gave Worcester State (26-15) all the runs they would need to advance to the championship round, as the Lancers added single tallies in the fifth on sophomore Adam Barry's (Auburn, Mass.) sacrifice fly and in the sixth on an RBI double off the bat of senior Nick Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) to close out the scoring. 

Sophomore Mike Powers (Weymouth, Mass.) rapped out three of Worcester State's 10 hits, while Gikas chipped in with a pair of hits in the win.  Perlak allowed two hits and overcame five walks to strike out four over the first seven innings of work on the mound to improve to 7-1 on the spring for the Lancers, while Barrie recorded the final six outs (three via strikeout) to earn his third save.  

Senior Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) collected his second hit of the day in the elimination game setback for Framingham State, as freshman Kevin Connolly (Bolton, Mass.) allowed six hits and three runs over the first four frames for the Rams to fall to 5-2 on the season.

Portions of release courtesy of MMA Media Relations.